Category Archives: Finn Balor

I started to compile a list of the ten best wrestling matches of 2017. The list of contenders was loaded with New Japan matches, a couple from Pro Wrestling Guerrilla and not many from WWE.

This year has just been an insane year for great matches all over the world. I decided to save that list for later this month and just focus on WWE with this post.

I was surprised there weren’t many top matches with women wrestlers in WWE. The top ten matches in WWE the last two years had plenty of contenders from the women’s division. I think when you have a belt on Alexa Bliss for most of the year (on Smackdown and RAW), and every brand PPV usually only has one women’s match (usually just the title match), you’re cutting down the opportunities for women to have great matches.

I don’t always review WWE pay-per-views, but I usually do them for the ‘Big Four’ events. ‘Survivor Series’ would need to be a great show to surpass the previous night’s ‘NXT Takeover: War Games’ event that was insanely good.

I didn’t have high hopes for ‘Survivor Series’, but there were some matches that intrigued me. Brock Lesnar vs. AJ Styles was the match I was most looking forward to watching. I guess there were also certain match-ups in the main event that we’ve never seen before like Braun Strowman & Shinsuke Nakamura and Triple H & Bobby Roode that occurred, which were pretty cool.

After last night’s NXT Takeover: Brooklyn III, the WWE main roster had to put on a PPV to follow up that amazing show. I wouldn’t say they failed to do so, but the show was too damn long.

If you count the pre-show and the main card, it was SIX HOURS LONG! You could watch two NFL football games, or roughly four football matches (I didn’t want to exclude my International readers). It wasn’t as long as Wrestlemania and thank God.

SummerSlam had five title changes, which could be a record. I know Michael Cole mentioned that this show has the most title matches in one night in the history of WWE. It may or may not be correct since WWE announcers have spewed bullshit records in the past (I’m looking at you Matt Striker).

We haven’t covered any Funko releases on this site, but it’s about time we do.

We have reviewed a lot of Mattel’s WWE Elite figures, but Funko has also released some pretty solid figures in the past. I’m a big collector and you can see some of my collection on my Instagram, @vintagetoybob.

I’ve plugged another site in my previous Mattel posts, but if you’re looking to order Funko figures, I’d trust intheringcollectibles.com. I’ve bought a ton of stuff from them and they always pack shipments very well. You can use code ‘paulyp‘ for a discount.

I’m a self-confessed vintage toy nerd. I collect vintage wrestling action figures from the 80’s & 90’s. I started purchasing some vintage toys out of nostalgia. Well, WWE and Mattel sucked me into their new stuff. I now buy a few figures a month. You can view photos of my collection on my Instagram account.

The lineup in Elite 46 is decent. It’s really hard for a series to stand out, since so many have been fantastic. It has been a banner year for Mattel’s WWE line of figures. The WWE Superstars included in Elite 46 are Finn Balor, John Cena, Sheamus, Rusev and Harlem Heat (Booker T & Stevie Ray).

I’m a self-confessed vintage toy nerd. I collect vintage wrestling action figures from the 80’s & 90’s. I started purchasing some vintage toys out of nostalgia. Well, WWE and Mattel sucked me into their new stuff. I now buy a few figures a month. You can view photos of my collection on my Instagram account.

Mattel has been including more flashback figures, which I love. I think it’s largely due to the success of the Target exclusive Hall of Fame series (by the way, series three should be in stores in the near future).

Elite 41 might be the best overall series released this calendar year. I know I said that for elite 40, but Mattel keeps outdoing themselves. The WWE Superstars included in Elite 41 are Finn Balor, 1-2-3 Kid, Terry Funk, Lita, Dean Ambrose and Ryback.

One of the smartest things WWE has done in the last decade was to open the WWE Performance Center to cultivate the stars of the future at NXT (formerly known as Florida Championship Wrestling). Dean Ambrose and current WWE World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins both came from NXT…although one could argue that they would have made it to WWE without NXT.

Dean Ambrose was a star in the indies at places like Combat Zone Wrestling as ‘Jon Moxley’ and Seth Rollins (formerly known as Tyler Black) did fantastic things in Ring of Honor prior to signing with WWE. Both could have made the jump the old school way with an immediate spot on WWE’s main roster.

If you look at the top stars at NXT, most made their name prior to signing with WWE.

Pro wrestling is cyclical. Major stars tend to have 10+ year runs at the top and then fade into the mid-card. WWE had issues in the past trying to build homegrown young talent able to take the next step when the time is right.

Triple H is semi-retired from competing in the ring and is now the Chief Creative Officer for the WWE. He decided to focus on talent development. They opened the WWE Performance Center and rebranded their developmental territory (Florida Championship Wrestling) into NXT. The results have spoken and it has exceeded all expectations.

Bray Wyatt, Seth Rollins and Paige have all had success since graduating from NXT to WWE’s main roster. Which stars are ready to take the leap?